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If the Central Time Zone pushed around and roughed up the Kings over the weekend, well, then Monday night was far worse. To review: They lost to the Blackhawks, 4-1, at United Center. They lost ground in the Western Conference playoff race. And they lost one of their better puck-moving defensemen, Andrej Sekera, in the third period, and could only hope they don't lose him for a longer period than that. So just how did “Chelsea Dagger” sound? The Kings had to listen to the Blackhawks anthem — the Fratellis song played after every Chicago goal at United Center — four times, including twice in an error-riddled 64-second span in the second period when a power-play...

Related "Mike Richards" Articles

If the Central Time Zone pushed around and roughed up the Kings over the weekend, well, then Monday night was far worse.To review: They lost to the Blackhawks, 4-1, at United Center. They lost ground in the Western Conference playoff race. And they lost...

It wasn't anti-Anze hockey, but for the last month or so, Kings center Anze Kopitar wasn't looking quite like his usual dominant self.
He scored three goals in February and March and just twice in the last 15 games before Monday's action and was a...

Barring some late development, it appears as though Kings goalie Jonathan Quick will start against the New York Rangers on Tuesday night, making it the second time this season he has played back-to-back nights.
Now this didn’t come from via a...

What we learned about the Kings’ 3-1 win against the New Jersey Devils on Monday night
A few more takeaways from their first win in three games, and their 13th win in 34 road games.
Stopped the momentum from slipping away
They’ve been starting...

The Kings should have shed Mike Richards' contract during last summer's final compliance-buyout period, but General Manager Dean Lombardi wanted to keep his core group together and willingly believed Richards' promises to improve his fitness.
Whether...

Mike Richards was getting ready to play his first game with the Kings since Jan. 21.
So much has changed since then. Still, it comes always back to hockey and his Kings teammates, meaning a lot has stayed the same.
He admitted it was humbling to get...

The Kings, who have been receiving scant production from their rookie centers, recalled veteran center Mike Richards from their American Hockey League affiliate in Manchester, N.H.
Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi told The Times after Saturday's...

For center Mike Richards, the most difficult part was the uncertainty when the Kings put him on waivers in late January.
How long would he be gone? Or would he come back?
Those questions were eventually answered when he received a phone call Saturday...

Their loss of discipline was swift as the Kings unraveled in the third period against the Vancouver Canucks and just as quickly they lost ground in the Western Conference playoff race.
Two potential points vanished at Staples Center on Saturday afternoon...

Overconfidence, thy name is not Sutter.
The Kings have defeated the Canucks three times, most recently, 4-0, at Vancouver on March 12. In those three games, the Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel, have a combined two assists for the Canucks.
All this led to...

Sixty-six seconds was all it took to turn what was looking like a decent effort by the Kings at home into harsh reality, getting them knocked out of a wild-card playoff spot.
For the moment.
Nashville scored on consecutive shots, in a span of 66...

A few more takeaways from a game in which the Kings lost a third-period lead and fell out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, slipping out of the wild-card position.
Beware the Predators
Funny how it all works. The Kings seem to have the number...

The Kings were thin at center during Saturday’s morning skate, for a couple of reasons.
Missing were Anze Kopitar and Jarret Stoll. Kopitar and his wife Ines became parents for the first time, with Ines giving birth shortly after midnight to a girl,...

At his core, Dean Lombardi is a development guy.
Lives it. Thrives on it.
The Kings' general manager spoke about the learning curve of some of his less-veteran players, the ones who don't get quite as much attention on a day-to-day basis, the likes of...

Rob Blake, for one, is not surprised that center Mike Richards is having some success with the Kings' minor-league team in Manchester, N.H.
"The best thing is that he went down there with a good attitude that way," Blake said. "It's a...

Winning the Stanley Cup might be the most demanding task in professional sports, a glorious and grueling test played out over eight months and more than 100 games.
Only when the ice has melted do teams disclose who was hobbling on a wounded knee or who...

Just to get it out of the way, the last team that won the Stanley Cup and missed the playoffs the following season was the Carolina Hurricanes, who triumphed in 2006 but couldn't crash the postseason party in 2007.
That bit of NHL history is becoming...

What we learned about the Kings’ 4-0 loss to the Capitals at Verizon Center:
We learned that this season is teetering at the point of no return—as in no return to the playoffs for the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings. It’s a stunning turn of events...

Shaved, shorn and suavely suited, Kings players and staffers gathered onstage in the White House East room Monday and smiled politely as President Obama joked how unfortunate it was that they had defeated his hometown Chicago Blackhawks on the way to...

High-powered meetings take place in the White House every day. Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi added to the unofficial total Monday, while his team was at the White House to be honored for its 2014 Stanley Cup championship, when he sought out NHL...